Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Blogging in Education
The use of blogs in instructional settings is limited only by your imagination !
Options for instructors using blogs:
Delivery of Content relevant to a course
Networking and personal knowledge sharing
Instructional tips for students
Course announcements and readings
Options for students using blogs in your courses include:
Reflective or writing journals
Dialogue for groupwork
Work placement journal (what they have been doing/learnt)
Project journal (problems encountered / solutions)
Share course-related resources
Question ....
Can you see an educational benefit of using BLOGS within Education ? Discuss
No Internet access after reinstall
After reinstalling Windows XP everything is working apart from my Internet. As my PC doesnt have an ethernet port I have to a USB modem
Any ideas what the problem may be the problem
Post update .....
Ive added my TCP/IP settings below
Any ideas what the problem may be the problem
Post update .....
Ive added my TCP/IP settings below
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a course in Blackboard?
Courses can only be created by one of the System Administrators. Please refer to the Help Contacts section.
What's the best way to organise my course in Blackboard?
Most staff find it best to have a separate Blackboard course for each unit - having a number of different units within the same course can get very confusing. Within the course, organise your resources in a meaningful way - perhaps for example a folder for each major topic or learning outcome. If in doubt, discuss this with any of the eLearning staff.
How do I put materials into my course?
Any kind of changes to your course can either be made via the Control Panel, which is only available to Instructors on a course, or from within Course Documents click on the "Edit" button (top right of the window).
If, for example, you want to add a Word document, go to the Control Panel, then open the folder into which you want to place the document (e.g. Course Documents). Next, click the Add Item button. Enter a title for the document (this is the title as it will appear in your course, not the file name). Scroll down to section 2, click Browse and find the file. When you have done that, scroll down and click Submit.
The procedure is the same for most files, but if you are uploading a "zip" file packaged in CourseGenie, remember at Section 2 to select "Unpackage this file".
The above comments are intended only as a brief reminder. If you want to find out how to set up and run a course in Blackboard, your really need to attend one of the staff development sessions that are held regularly throughout the year.
How do I add students to my course?
First ensure that the students have had a Blackboard account created for them - in most cases they will need to register themselves by clicking the link in the Login Here window that appears on their home page when they run Internet Explorer.
Adding a single user: In your course, from the Control Panel select Enroll User. In the search box enter either the surname or the username (e.g. AA1234-1) of the student, select the appropriate button below and then click Search. If you have searched by Surname, a list of names might appear. Identify the student you want to add, click the Add box, scroll down if necessary and click Submit.
Adding multiple users: This assumes that the students you want to add share a common course code for their username (e.g. AA1234-1, AA1234-2, AA1234-3, etc). When at the Search stage, select Username and enter AA1234. This should return a list of all students with that course code. Click the Add button for all students that you want to add, then Submit.
If you want to add students who have different course codes, you will have to repeat the above procedure for each individual, or for each sub-group that share a course code.
How do I remove students from my course?
In your course, from the Control Panel select Remove Users from Course. In the search box enter either the surname or the username (e.g. AA1234-1) of the student, select the appropriate button below and then click Search. If you have searched by Surname, a list of names might appear. Identify the student you want to remove, click the box beside their name and type "Yes" (case sensitive) in the confirmation box, scroll down if necessary and click Submit.
Can I add other members of staff to my course?
Yes, to do this search for the member of staff in the same way as shown above when adding a student, except that you will search by surname. Then add them in the same way as you add a student (see above).
When you add a member of staff however, they are enrolled on your course as a student. This means that they do not have access to the Control Panel and cannot add or change any course materials. You will need to ask a member of the elearning team to change their status to lecturer on the course.
How do I use assessments in Blackboard?
You can set up tests in Blackboard that students can work through as part of their course. Depending on the type of question they can be given immediate feedback and the results of the test are available for the students and you to review at any time.
To find out how to do this contact someone in the elearning team.
How do I know if students are using my course?
In your course, from the Control Panel select Course Statistics. Make sure that the date period covers the period you want to search. Select either all users, or select the individual(s) that you want to search for. Click Submit, and you will now see a summary that shows when each user has accessed Blackboard.
Can I change the layout of my Blackboard pages?
To some extent, yes. If the page has at the top right the links "Modify Content" and "Modify Layout", then you can, with some restrictions change the modules that appear, their appearance and their layout.
For example, if you click Content, you are presented with a list of modules. You can opt to have a module added to, or removed from, your page by adding or clearing a tick against the module. The only exceptions are those ticked in red (e.g. My Announcements) - they cannot be removed.
Similarly, if you select Layout, you can choose whether a module appears on the left or right of the page, and the vertical order of modules. You can also choose from a range of colour schemes.
Pages without "Modify Content" or "Modify Layout" cannot be altered.
Courses can only be created by one of the System Administrators. Please refer to the Help Contacts section.
What's the best way to organise my course in Blackboard?
Most staff find it best to have a separate Blackboard course for each unit - having a number of different units within the same course can get very confusing. Within the course, organise your resources in a meaningful way - perhaps for example a folder for each major topic or learning outcome. If in doubt, discuss this with any of the eLearning staff.
How do I put materials into my course?
Any kind of changes to your course can either be made via the Control Panel, which is only available to Instructors on a course, or from within Course Documents click on the "Edit" button (top right of the window).
If, for example, you want to add a Word document, go to the Control Panel, then open the folder into which you want to place the document (e.g. Course Documents). Next, click the Add Item button. Enter a title for the document (this is the title as it will appear in your course, not the file name). Scroll down to section 2, click Browse and find the file. When you have done that, scroll down and click Submit.
The procedure is the same for most files, but if you are uploading a "zip" file packaged in CourseGenie, remember at Section 2 to select "Unpackage this file".
The above comments are intended only as a brief reminder. If you want to find out how to set up and run a course in Blackboard, your really need to attend one of the staff development sessions that are held regularly throughout the year.
How do I add students to my course?
First ensure that the students have had a Blackboard account created for them - in most cases they will need to register themselves by clicking the link in the Login Here window that appears on their home page when they run Internet Explorer.
Adding a single user: In your course, from the Control Panel select Enroll User. In the search box enter either the surname or the username (e.g. AA1234-1) of the student, select the appropriate button below and then click Search. If you have searched by Surname, a list of names might appear. Identify the student you want to add, click the Add box, scroll down if necessary and click Submit.
Adding multiple users: This assumes that the students you want to add share a common course code for their username (e.g. AA1234-1, AA1234-2, AA1234-3, etc). When at the Search stage, select Username and enter AA1234. This should return a list of all students with that course code. Click the Add button for all students that you want to add, then Submit.
If you want to add students who have different course codes, you will have to repeat the above procedure for each individual, or for each sub-group that share a course code.
How do I remove students from my course?
In your course, from the Control Panel select Remove Users from Course. In the search box enter either the surname or the username (e.g. AA1234-1) of the student, select the appropriate button below and then click Search. If you have searched by Surname, a list of names might appear. Identify the student you want to remove, click the box beside their name and type "Yes" (case sensitive) in the confirmation box, scroll down if necessary and click Submit.
Can I add other members of staff to my course?
Yes, to do this search for the member of staff in the same way as shown above when adding a student, except that you will search by surname. Then add them in the same way as you add a student (see above).
When you add a member of staff however, they are enrolled on your course as a student. This means that they do not have access to the Control Panel and cannot add or change any course materials. You will need to ask a member of the elearning team to change their status to lecturer on the course.
How do I use assessments in Blackboard?
You can set up tests in Blackboard that students can work through as part of their course. Depending on the type of question they can be given immediate feedback and the results of the test are available for the students and you to review at any time.
To find out how to do this contact someone in the elearning team.
How do I know if students are using my course?
In your course, from the Control Panel select Course Statistics. Make sure that the date period covers the period you want to search. Select either all users, or select the individual(s) that you want to search for. Click Submit, and you will now see a summary that shows when each user has accessed Blackboard.
Can I change the layout of my Blackboard pages?
To some extent, yes. If the page has at the top right the links "Modify Content" and "Modify Layout", then you can, with some restrictions change the modules that appear, their appearance and their layout.
For example, if you click Content, you are presented with a list of modules. You can opt to have a module added to, or removed from, your page by adding or clearing a tick against the module. The only exceptions are those ticked in red (e.g. My Announcements) - they cannot be removed.
Similarly, if you select Layout, you can choose whether a module appears on the left or right of the page, and the vertical order of modules. You can also choose from a range of colour schemes.
Pages without "Modify Content" or "Modify Layout" cannot be altered.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Tutorial: Adding Widgets into Blackboard
Have you ever wondered how you can use all your great Widgets in Blackboard ? This tutorial will show how to Widgetise your Blackboard Course.
1. Find a Widget
The first step is to find a widget or create a widget with the content you would like to add to blackboard. For the purpose of this Tutorial I will be using Widgetbox to find a widget however there are loads of widget websites so feel free to use a different one.
It’s a good idea to signup for a username and password as this will allow you to save widgets in your favourites so you can easily access them later rather than searching or creating them again.
2. Search Widget Gallery
Search the Gallery for a widget you would like to use and click details to look at the details of the widget, here is an example of the details screen you will see when you click to view the details button. Chris McDermott Blog widget .
3. Get the Widget
From the details screen of your chosen widget click the Get widget (<>) button at the top right hand side of the screen to get the widget. A pop up window will now appear. Click Get winget code and copy the code in the top box (Ctrl + C or Edit/Copy) for use later.
4. Log in to Blackboard
Now login into Blackboard and find the course and content area where you would like to import the widget.
5. Add Widget as content
In your desired content area add a content item as normal. Before you add any text in the text box click the toggle button (<>) to change from normal mode to html source mode.
6. Paste the code
Paste the code that you copied in step 3 into this text box
7. Click the toggle button
Click the toggle button (<>) again to switch back to normal mode
8. Name your Widget
Give your widget a name in the Name field at the top of the page and configure any other parameters as required.
9. Submit your Widget
Click the Submit button to submit your new content item,
10. Check it looks ok
Check what your widget looks like by going back to Display view and viewing the widget.
Congratulations you have just Widgetised your Blackboard course. Your widget should now be displayed in Blackboard.
Note: I will try and add a few screen dumps later to help this tutorial
Blackboard - A Quick Guide for Tutors
This tutorial gives tutors a very quick introduction about using Blackboard
In college
• Internet Explorer
• BlackBoard Server
• Enter user name and password
From home use URL address: http://bb6.dundeecollege.ac.uk
Which Course?
• My Courses
• Click on name of course you need to access
Students must be “Registered” with Blackboard
• Before you can enrol a student they must register with Blackboard – they can do thisthrough Internet Explorer.
• We are happy to come along to do an induction to Blackboard with your students
Enrol a Student on your Course
• Control panel (left hand menu near bottom)
• User Management
• Enrol user
• Select how you will search for student – surname or username
• Type search criteria – i.e. students surname or user name
• Click Search
• Select the students you want to add to your course
• Submit
Add a New Folder or Item
• Course Document
• Edit View
• Click on Icon: +Item or +Folder
• Add detail as required
• Browse for file as required
Make an item available or not available
• Course Documents
• Edit View
• Modify
• In part 3 – Make the content available - select Yes
• In Part 3 – to hide the content – select No
• Submit
• Check in display view that students can see the item
Announcements
• Control Panel (left hand menu near bottom)
• Course Tools
• Announcements
• Add announcement
• 1 – Subject and Message
• 2 – Permanent or select when message is to be displayed. Sometimes easier to makeit permanent and then at a later date make not available.
• 3 – You can make a link to somewhere in the course to help direct students to reading, etc.
• 4 – Submit
Student has Forgotten Password?
• Control panel (left hand menu near bottom)
• User Management
• List/Modify Users
• Search by last name or username
• Click on Password
• Ask student to enter a password they will use and remember
• Submit the change
Within Blackboard there is a Help tab which has frequently asked questions which you can refer to.
The training booklets are also available.
Or even better come along to a CPD training session or arrange a one-to-one session with oneof our team.
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